Hugh Mosman who discovered gold in Charters Towers. Dalrymple wrote "I named this river the Mossman River, after Mossman, an explorer and mining man, member of a very prominent mining family". The town was also known for a brief time as Hartsville after Daniel Hart, an early settler. Later the name was changed to Mossman. The Mossman - Port Douglas parish of the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Queensland (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns) was established in 1877. Mossman River Post Office opened by 1895 (a receiving office had been open from 1883) and was renamed Mossman in 1899. Mossman Central Sugar Mill commenced crushing on 23 August 1897. Mossman River State School opened on 31 January 1898 under head teacher Thomas Garland. It was renamed Mossman State School in 1910. A secondary department was opened on 1 February 1955, which operated until a separate Mossman State High School opened on 30 January 1973. The establishment and subsequent growth of Cairns and the completion of the Cairns Railway up through the Barron Gorge in 1891 gave a more direct gateway to the hinterland but, at this period, it was found that the Mossman district contained suitable land for sugar-growing. The establishment of the sugar mill at Mossman formed the nucleus of the town, which grew at the expense of Port Douglas. The district was served by two separate 2-foot (610 mm) gauge tramway systems. Both at one time handled passengers and general goods, as well as sugar cane. Mossman district owes its present prosperity to these tramways which pioneered the first reasonable transport in the neighbourhood, for trafficable roads followed later. In June 1905, tenders were called to erect a Catholic church in Mossman. On Sunday 21 January 1906, St Augustine's Catholic church was consecrated by Bishop James Murray in the presence of several hundred spectators. On Thursday 16 March 1911, a cyclone hit Mossman and Port Douglas doing considerable damage. In Mossman, over 80 people were homeless and the Catholic and Anglican churches were destroyed.On Sunday 11 February 1912, a new St Augustine's Catholic Church was opened by Bishop Murray. It was in Junction Road (approx ), opposite the Mossman Butchery Company (established in 1927 at 3 Junction Road, ). As the population of Mossman grew, there was a desire to build a Catholic school, but the Junction Road site did not have the space, so a